jersey cubs fan

Bears now showing up as 2.5 point favorites.

I wouldn't call that a laser. It got the job done but the throw itself wasn't all that pretty.

I think the stadium is great. The field was bad though.

I'm kind of annoyed by all the "who ever would have thought the Bears could contend or win 10 games this year" talk. The Bears had the upside for 10 or more wins all along. The only people who can't realize that are the ones who insist Jay Cutler is horrible. He's a really good QB on a team that finally went with an NFL coaching staff. 10 wins was well within reason, and 11-12 shouldn't be that surprising.

Fixed for minnesotacubsfan. it was fantastic out there, ladys and gents. and no, I don't have any relatives involved in the stadium design/construction (although a few classmates). I just thought the "OMG THE FIELD IS DEADLY" crap the past few days was completely overblown. it didnt seem to bother the Bears at all, they scored 40 friggen points on it. That game was played at 3/4 speed as everybody was moving gingerly on the ice. The Bears scored a ton of points because their opponent sucked.

Kind of what I was thinking as well. Why is this guy pooping all over our division clinching game thread? It wasn't obvious that the Bears won that game without the benefit of looking back at the tape so you can't expect him to know the Vikings got pounded.

Not only that, but he was pumping his fist when the ball would land out of bounds.

You keep matching dumb statements with dumber statements. The 100% correct call would be bad because maybe you couldn't tell it happened if you ignored what happened? Please keep saying stupid crap, it makes me feel better about hating the Vikings. Shouldn't you be listening to a Bill Simmons podcast with the sole purpose of complaining about it here? He put it up yesterday and we don't want you to fall behind. No, I was asking for more dumb stuff about the game. Please? You are good at it.

Philly did just sneak away with win in Dallas and against the Giants. If GB beats the Giants, the Eagles could just as easily suffer their own letdown game.

Helmet to helmet on a passing QB is helmet to helmet on a passing QB. Obviously helmets make contact with each other all game long, it's a pointless distinction.

You keep matching dumb statements with dumber statements. The 100% correct call would be bad because maybe you couldn't tell it happened if you ignored what happened? Please keep saying stupid crap, it makes me feel better about hating the Vikings.

Raw, helmet to helmet isn't allowed when a guy is being held up, the lack of whistle is meaningless. You can't hit with your helmet there. As for the other pinball hit, Cutler had his helmet knocked halfway off after getting hit by 2 defenders with the throw gone. That was after they missed a blatant helmet to helmet. Maybe it was a make up call, but QBs getting hit late and having their helmet knocked like that is going to brings flags. I would be pissed if it was called against the Bears, but that's going to get called.

I thought you can go helmet to helmet on running backs? Except Jay Cutler isn't a running back Then the helmet to helmet rule has exceptions which was my point. Helmet to helmet on a passing QB is supposed to be called every time. There aren't exceptions for height and field conditions. Running backs are a completely different situation. That is like saying there are exceptions to pass interference since you are allowed to tackle a player once he has the ball.

Only 3 >.500 matchups this week, one at 1, one at 4 and one on MNF.

No you're wrong. There's helmet to helmet contact all the time and it doesn't get called. They don't call it when a player ducks, they don't call it on running plays. They try to determine intent when calling it. Winfield was running straight trying to get to him. He didn't lead with his head, launch himself or do any of the other things they've made it clear that they won't allow. He tried stopping himself and didn't even try to hit Cutler. It would have been a terrible call. They don't call it on running plays because that is not a QB standing still. Running plays, when the runner is still running makes for unavoidable helmet to helmet. Hitting the passing QB's helmet is an automatic penalty regardless of how crappy your field is.

That is as dumb a thing as I have ever read said about something that happened on a field. Are you serious? That is absurd. You are responsible for your body, and especially helmet. Just because your incompetent organization couldn't provide a decent playing field for the game there is no excuse.

The threat of a letdown is obviously there for the Bears, after becoming the first team to clinch. We talk a lot about getting byes and homefield, but it never seems to me that teams really put that much emphasis on it. The Bears need this game if they want to go far in the playoffs. Philly is going to crush the Vikings and Dallas the next two weeks. And I really don't want to face the Packers in week 1. The Jets are very beatable. They probably should have 6 or 7 already. They also more or less wrapped up a wild card spot this weekend with a win over Pittsburgh, who for some reason didn't really care about that game. They also get to finish with Buffalo at home as a sort of cushion game to wrap up the spot. The Jets don't really throw the ball. They have relatively few attempts and a very low yards/attempt. They do a decent job protecting the QB, but Sanchez is susceptible to being rattled. The Jets do run the ball a lot, although they aren't that dangerous of a running team. The y/a are nice, but they've come down as Tomlinson's production has slipped after a hot start. Greene is a threat, but hasn't done much of late. The defense is good, but probably not as good as the reputation. They do not shut down the passing game like they once did, and their best weapon, playing Revis against your #1 to shut him down isn't really an advantage against a Bears team without a #1. The Jets only have 7 INT but they cause a lot of fumbles and they limit their own turnovers. No doubt it is a solid team. The Bears were early 1.5 point favorites but the line is currently off as they adjust to the demolition on the ice rink. It's going to be cold for this game. Chicago should win. There's no good reason why they can't. But I really fear the letdown after clinching and the potential for looking ahead to GB.

Bolland is untradable because he has a sizeable contract and nobody is going to give the Hawks something for him.

The refs were on edge because of the terrible field conditions. I didn't think it was any worse than every other NFL games which features missed helment to helmet hits, phantom holding and pass interference calls and everything else.

As soon as they lose a playoff game those same critics will just say the same thing.

Don Banks: Between last week against N.E. and shaky start tonight, methinks J. Cutler isn't too comfortable playing in the cold. Bad news for Bears. about 3 hours ago via web

Don Banks just moved Bears down two slots in his power rankings

when does the storybook start?

That game will mean something even if Chicago wins. GB would conceivably still be fighting for a WC spot and Chicago should be fighting for a first round bye. And it could be a precursor to a first round rematch with the Packers.

Who freaking cares what Packers fans are thinking? It's a Vikings game in Minnesota, the storybook atmosphere just isn't there. It's already been pointed out in this thread at how ridiculous and/or amusing it is that the Packers have to cheer for their jilted lover tonight. I don't know how that's not worthy of some sort of storyline. Of course it's worthy of a storyline. What I'm not buying is the supposed storybook atmosphere. Favre coming out of retirement to face the Bears with the Packers on the last week of the year would be a crazy storybook atmosphere. But he's thinking about playing in a meaningless game for the Vikings, a couple weeks before he's gone for good. It's really not that big of a deal.